Found Deceased WY - Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito, 22, Grand Teton National Park, 25 Aug 2021 #63

[Keyedin]

Three to five minutes. As someone else mentioned, prosecutor should set a timer in front of the jury with silence for three to five minutes.

Opening to opening statements.

 

[RickshawFan]

Are there empty cabins in the woods along the AT?

Shelters every 7 miles or so. But there are private cabins all over those mountains. I found it over-inhabited and not at all wilderness-y. Except in Maine, you can see a town from almost every view. There are road crossings frequently (this shocked me, since I was used to hiking out west).

 

[Angels Advocate]

I’m not sure but I think they may have been referring to the hyoid bone, which you would expect to be fractured in a strangulation.

I think it’s more. She had decomposed for weeks.

Gabby autopsy being ruled homicide so quickly hints at clues 'like broken neck'

 

[branmuffin]

What would BL need to survive in the various possible scenarios?

For example if someone is helping to hide him in an urban setting providing food/shelter/utilities etc, what does that look like?

Versus if BL were surviving on his own out on a trail somewhere, what would he need? Meaning, what kind of food items, gear etc. I doubt he's trudging along the AT with a bag full of canned salmon, sleeping on a tarp.

I have a place in Florida that I haven't been to for 2 years come November. Me and hundreds of other snowbirds. All those vacant homes and condos just sitting there. We have a person who checks our place. Makes sure there's water in the toilet to keep palmetto bugs out, check for mold, check the thermostat and change air filters, etc. I'm sure neighbourhoods and condos all over Florida have people doing the same thing. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that a few of those homes have 'hosted' a few people during the pandemic, even if it's not BL.

 

[TheGardener]

I think he’s alive because his parents are too relaxed, they know he’s alive and well.
What parent would not leave their house if they knew their son was suicidal or risking his life.

THIS!!!! Absolutely.

 

[they'll get you]

That last part …. BL broke her neck.

That could mean the hyoid bone which is a U-shaped bone in the neck which supports the tongue, when it fractures it’s a tell-tale sign of strangulation.

 

[Doghairrules]

I think it’s more. She had decomposed for weeks.

Gabby autopsy being ruled homicide so quickly hints at clues 'like broken neck'

This article refers to a theory posted on Reddit before the press conference. The coroner made no mention of a broken neck.

 

[cady]

Shelters every 7 miles or so. But there are private cabins all over those mountains. I found it over-inhabited and not at all wilderness-y. Except in Maine, you can see a town from almost every view. There are road crossings frequently (this shocked me, since I was used to hiking out west).

DUH. I may have hiked on it and not known! Are the White MTNS part of the trail? MT Washington? Was my only REAL hiking experience in NH. Loved it. just a day hike but 8 hrs. jmo

 

[customCF]

I wonder if the feds or other LE have searched any trash along the roads that BL took home correlating with gasoline stops. Never know where he could have dumped Gabby's stuff.

 

[SouthAussie]

BBM

The coroner’s report called Petito’s death by manual strangulation.

“You would have had a fracture of the hyoid bone or fractures and or fractures of the thyroid cartilage,” Dr. Cyril Wecht explained.

Wecht, who is a pathologist, says that is an important distinction for investigators. There would be a difference if, for example, it was determined to be ligature strangulation.

A look at the significance of Gabby Petito's cause of death

 

[OceanElix]

Funny, I was just comparing photos of him from Utah and from the year before. He was much skinnier. Gawky. His eyes looked different, his face was more bird-like. The change is striking and very spooky. Maybe influenced by what I know of subsequent events, but he doesn't look right, and even though there's no reason to believe he was on drugs, he seemed coked up or methed up or something during the Moab stop.

I think both do look quite different comparing the photos.
When I first watched the bodycam footage I thought substances were involved, the appearance, behaviour, speech, it appeared more was going on than what witnesses reported.
I was surprised LE did not request roadside drug tests for them as soon as they stepped out of the van.
I wondered whether these are done routinely at traffic stops in the US?

 

[whiterhino]

I think it’s more. She had decomposed for weeks.

Gabby autopsy being ruled homicide so quickly hints at clues 'like broken neck'

The cervical spine can be damaged/broken as well as the larynx and esophageal damage which are soft tissues (possibly not available upon discovery Idk)

 

[acutename]

Oh yes, I recall the followup discussion of bologna vs boloney. So, on the 10th and 11th (if overnights) or 11th/12th (if day trips), they went somewhere and told the FBI. Sure!!! Why so secretive? Planning for the Great Escape. Sorry, Laundries, not buying it. Wonder if neighbors have any recollection if the camper was moved twice in less than a week.

someone on here asked where their old camper went... good question

 

[Shellinaya]

Sometimes that is called mirroring.
It is often done consciously or unconsciously (and willingly) to be on the same page as someone else. Because you are attracted to them or interested in them.

imo

I personally think that Gabby was very good at having her say, doing what she (mostly) wanted to do, and was a strong young woman.
If she was limp and docile and compliant, there probably would have been very little reason/impetus to murder her.
.

She might have enjoyed the books he recommended and was reading but seems unusual to me anyway. When I was her age I read my own books and my boyfriend read his own books or comics or whatever and it would not have occurred to me to read the same things as him. Maybe once in a while, but not book after book after book, all by the same author? To me that seemed like his idea. And for her birthday they went to the AT? Again that seemed like what HE wanted, maybe not her as much? Did she have to like everything he liked? From their SM it appeared that way, - another type of control. And then when she wanted to do a blog about their #Vanlife he was dismissive. And they couldn't even go to a restaurant without him blowing up in anger at the employees. He must have made her life just pure h***.

JMO

 

[customCF]

I think it’s more. She had decomposed for weeks.

Gabby autopsy being ruled homicide so quickly hints at clues 'like broken neck'

From what I have read; It takes a massive amount of force to break a neck. Not sure if this link is allowed.

Human head-neck biomechanics under axial tension - PubMed

 

[Ozoner]

Yes, this ^^ I've often thought that about Robert Chambers' trial. That flimsy story that Jennifer Levin hurt him and he somehow strangled her by grabbing her and throwing her off of him would never have been accepted by a jury if the prosecution said "this is how long it takes to strangle someone" and stood there in silence for five minutes.

The jury didn't accept that explanation in the Chambers case, did it? Wasn't he convicted? Refresh my memory; that one was so long ago that I followed it in papers. (It seems hard to believe that I used to have to wait for the newspaper to arrive every day to get my news—such a different world!)

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I posted my theory of what happened about three hundred (j/k) threads back.

I think he grabbed her by the face as she testified to in the Moab video, then went for her throat, and it was all over.

I hypothesized that the finding of homicide so quickly was due to some obvious evidence like the breaking of her hyoid bone.

So far nothing official has contradicted my theory.

I take no pleasure in that, however.

It breaks my heart that the vibrant woman Gabby was killed by someone she clearly loved.

JMO of course.

 

[Shellinaya]

To me it can be more of a reaction and not premeditated. A couple of examples are:

• I knock over a glass. I don't think.. I need to grab that before it hits the floor and breaks... my arm immediately flings out and tries to grab the glass before it hits the ground. Reaction, no thinking "I need to do that"
• Something flies out the air in my direction (thrown, falling, etc.). I don't take even a split second to think about it, I react and my arm flings up to reflect whatever the object is.

With that said, I think he was angered and reacted. I don't believe he thought a few second before.. "I'm going to strangle you..." and then did that... I believe his anger caused him to react, without thinking about his action, and he strangled her.

Sure, you can argue about how long it takes to kill someone by strangulation... but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about his initial response to whatever it is that triggered his action. And as for how long it takes... I'm in TOTAL agreement that he not only should have, be he COULD have stopped what he was doing without hanging on for up to 5 minutes. I'm not totally convinced that's premeditation either... maybe more caught up in the moment and unable to control his urges? I actually think "unable to control their urges" is the most plausible reason. If people could control their urges more, some people wouldn't do some of the horrific things they do.

Your argument would make sense if strangling someone was a reflex or a normal reaction to anger, but it's not! It's also not an "urge". Lashing out - slapping - might be an urge. Placing your hands on someone's neck is a deliberate, unusual move and then pressing hard enough to kill them is another deliberate, unusual move. These are not things that most people do when they feel anger or frustration. They might have been usual to BL, and maybe he tried to strangle her once a week - but not to most people!

JMO

 

[Swild]

I watched the Moab PD cams again. I was looking for at any point did any of the officers point blank ask her if she felt safe? Did she feel she was in danger with BL. The same questions that are asked of me anytime I go to a doctors office or the ER. They never did. They never asked him either. IMO With every minute BL is getting more relaxed in the company of the officers who clearly think GP is the aggressor instead of someone who waas defending herself. He was terrified when he got pulled over. Probably never had an encounter with police before. IMO he's thinking "Man, these guys think SHE did something to ME" and I'm doing her a solid by not having her put in jail. IMO he used that situation to get her to do whatever he wanted. He could have threatened to call his pals, the police, on her anytime. IMO whatever happened at the restaurant, she was done. They got to the place where her body was found. She told him off for whatever happened at the restaurant and he went to shut her up by putting his hand on her face and squeezing, which she clearly was use to, and she didn't comply, so he went for her neck and didn't let go. It seemed he was always trying to shut her up and stifle her bright light. In the video she seems emotionally and physically drained. I can only imagine day by day living with BL and his selfish, abusive ways that she didn't have the strength to fight him off. Had he called police after strangling her, he may very well have said it was in self defense.

 

[LRinCA]

To sleep under. I sleep under a tarp. However, you also have to have a ground cloth. And the tarp over you would have to be very lightweight. It has to be huge (much bigger than you’d think), since you can’t sleep near the edges (rain goes in sideways), and you have to have gables unless you want water to pool deeply over your head. No thanks. Imagine having to schlepp a huge blue tarp!
I’ve slept under my tarp in blizzards, illegally among crawdads on a bank of the Potomac, many strange places.
It’s spooky if you’re not used to it. You’re at eye level with bugs on the ground, chipmunks run right through it..
Then, there’s a certain amount of improvising when you set it up. You need trees, or trekking poles…
IMO BL read about this on some website or other. He told his ride from Colter Bay he had a tarp, because he was bragging.

Thank you for all that info. I had no idea and that was very detailed. Also interesting re: the bragging.